INTRODUCTION
In the aftermath of the August 2017 Charlottesville white supremacist terror attack, you heard more and more variations of the phrase “...this country needs to have an honest conversation about race...” Yes, people are always saying this as if the conversation itself is the end that is sought; as if, somehow, simply by having this long-overdue conversation about race, something magical will happen, and all the wrongs of society will be righted.
I wrote this book because whenever I hear that phrase (“an honest conversation about race”), I'm constantly reminded that Americans are woefully ill-equipped for actually having such a conversation.
Since its inception as a nation, America has been having a quite dishonest conversation about race. White Americans, their perception and thus their conversations about their own as well as other races is layered with lies and obfuscation, mired in misdirection and misinformation, corrupted by capitalism, nationalism, hubris, propaganda, all fueled by an underlying fear. This self-perpetuating and dishonest conversation about race plays out repeatedly in media, movies, reporting, news coverage, the justice system, the education system, health care, capitalism and every aspect of modern life. Consequently, most conversations about race in America between the races in America are exercises in futility. The vocabulary is imprecise, the power dynamic is skewed, the self-perceptions are inaccurate, the agendas of those engaged in this “conversation” are polar opposites of each other.
The target of this dishonest conversation is primarily whites in America. In other words, white America in particular is simply not ready for an honest conversation.
Therefore, before America can have an honest conversation, a few things are needed to make that a reality:
Those engaged in this conversation need to be on the same page of awareness about the contributing issues and the present reality of the issue.
There must be a set of guidelines for this mythical conversation.
This conversation can't be a debate. Some things are actually beyond debate and must be seen as such if true progress is to be made in honest conversation....continued